Chapter 13 A Slight Sign of Murder He reached out and ruffled the little wolf's head. ...
Lou Yan hadn't heard such remarks in a long time.
When Heng Qichun took him back to the Eighteen Realms, he was still an innocent young wolf, whose greatest wish every day was to be able to sleep with his head on that high and mighty god.
But Heng Qichun was always cold and unapproachable, always making him sit by the lotus platform to listen to his lectures.
The lotus platform is dull, and lecturing is uninteresting.
Lou Yan was raised on principles of righteousness and justice for the common people.
Today, those extremely dry words have become blurred and indistinct, but upon closer examination, it was more than two hundred years ago.
Lou Yan forced a smile and echoed, "Yes, after all, it is Master's responsibility to protect all living beings."
There was an inexplicable sourness in his tone. Heng Qichun glanced at him, thinking that he was throwing a tantrum because he had been scolded, and even sighed softly: "Why do you speak with such a sarcastic tone?"
He reached out and ruffled the little wolf's head, feeling its soft, curly hair, then chuckled softly, "Let's go."
Lou Yan stood still.
He puffed out one cheek, his sharp canines grinding against each other in his mouth. The sunlight was dazzling, making the small patch at the corner of his eye red, and the beauty mark under his eye was particularly eye-catching.
It was past noon, but there wasn't a soul in the alley.
The sweltering wind made him feel itchy inside. Lou Yan felt that every strand of hair that Heng Qichun had touched was stirring restlessly, making him feel agitated and numb.
The faint fragrance of lotus blossoms still lingered in the air—it was the scent that Heng Qichun had gathered in her sleeves.
After a long while, Lou Yan, in a fit of self-pity, loosened her fingers that she had been secretly clenching, her lips unconsciously forming a small circle, and obediently uttered an "oh".
Then lift your leg and follow.
Heng Qichun looked up at the talismans scattered throughout the town and said, "Tan Qiqi has been missing for several days. The Tan family is pretending to be worried, but in reality, they are being frightened by Xu Shengzi and don't know what to do."
“The profit-driven Taoist priest, the seriously ill Madam Tan, and Tan Chengyi who has never shown his face…” Heng Qichun said, “This town is strange in every way.”
"If we want to find Tan Qiqi, we'll probably have to start with Tan Chengyi..." Heng Qichun suddenly frowned and glanced at his absent-minded little apprentice behind him. "What are you thinking about?"
Heng Qichun rarely spoke so much, but Lou Yan didn't listen to a word. He held the Pixiu cub in one arm and rubbed his cheek with the other, his mind filled with the "oh" he had just uncontrollably uttered.
Damn it! How could I be so easily coaxed!
"Lou, yan".
Lou Yan snapped back to reality in an instant.
"Huh?" He drawled, pretending to have been listening attentively, and quickly chimed in, "Master is right, but where should we look for Tan Chengyi? Didn't that old servant say he was looking for the child outside..."
Before the words were finished, a scorching gust of wind suddenly swept up from the end of the alley, and the curled branches and leaves were swept by the wind, creating a turbulent scene.
The Pixiu cub frantically turned and hugged Lou Yan, its tiny claws gripping Lou Yan's chest tightly, making a panicked "whoosh" sound.
Lou Yan instinctively made a magic spell.
After swallowing the shark whole, he never dared to use his spiritual power too recklessly. At this moment, a pale golden halo condensed from his fingertips, first enveloping him and the Pixiu cub, and then, like the roots of a plant drawing water, tentatively reached towards Heng Qichun's clothes.
"Zheng—"
The sound of a zither suddenly rang out.
Lou Yan was momentarily thrown back by the immense spiritual energy, and only managed to regain his footing after gathering another breath of spiritual energy.
The cub's claws dug deep into the flesh of his chest. Lou Yan resisted the urge to throw it down and forced out a sound through gritted teeth: "Hiss, gently, gently, gently—"
Pixiu: "Whoosh..."
The hurricane stopped and started again, leaving swirling dust in the air that made it difficult to open one's eyes for a moment.
Lou Yan squinted and looked up through the gap in his eyelashes. He saw Heng Qichun holding a stringless zither and standing against the wind. His light blue robe was billowing wildly in the wind, but he stood still, revealing the beautiful Guanyin-like figure beneath his robe.
Lou Yan could almost immediately picture the coveted purity of the lotus platform and his irresistible urge to crawl over and lick that Adam's apple.
All these inappropriate thoughts stemmed from a single silhouette.
A moment later, the music stopped, the turbulent wind subsided in an instant, and the dust and leaves hanging in mid-air fell straight down without even a ripple.
Like a still, stagnant pool in a dry well.
Heng Qichun withdrew his hand, his cold eyes sweeping around the room before locking onto a giant tree at the end of the alley. He called out, "Tan Chengyi."
What are you doing hiding there?
Lou Yan's brow twitched. She held the Pixiu's two claws with one hand to prevent the little creature from being startled and scratching her. Then she looked up and followed the direction Heng Qichun was staring at.
A gaunt and emaciated man was standing there.
He was very thin, with prominent bones beneath his skin, and a wide robe hung on the outside, like a garment for a skeleton.
Even those eyes—
His skin was bluish-black, and his cloudy eyes were open unconsciously, with no luster in his pupils. I waited for a long time but didn't see him blink even once.
Like the eyes of a dead person.
"Master..."
Lou Yan stepped forward, wanting to ask how he knew that was Tan Chengyi, but stopped himself as soon as he opened his mouth.
Because he saw it clearly.
A strong demonic aura was rising and swirling from the top of Tan Chengyi's head.
The ancient tree behind him began to wither and die one by one, starting from the branches closest to him, at a visible speed, as if it were suffering from a catastrophe.
The demonic aura was hard to conceal, just like the one emanating from Tan Wangshi; it was a faint, fishy smell from the river.
Lou Yansheng stood there, stunned.
He still remembered Heng Qichun saying that Tan Wangshi wasn't a demon. His lips trembled for a long time before he finally couldn't help but ask, "Isn't this a demon...?"
"Who told you he's a demon?" The familiar answer rang out once again, but Lou Yan shuddered and looked up in the direction of the voice.
This statement was not made by Heng Qichun.
—Xu Shengzi was sitting cross-legged on the withered ancient tree, his Taoist robe draped over his shoulders, dust lightly swept away, watching them with a meaningful look.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!"
The Pixiu cub still remembered that it had lost two drops of precious beast blood because of this stinky Taoist priest, and immediately started cursing wildly, but Lou Yan hurriedly pressed it back into his arms.
"Old Taoist priest!" Lou Yan's tone wasn't much nicer either, as he tilted his head back and asked, "What trick are you up to now!"
Xu Shengzi did not answer, but waved the whisk in his hand absentmindedly. After a couple of swings, he suddenly stopped and threw the whisk straight to the ground, where it rolled to Tan Chengyi's feet.
He squinted at Heng Qichun and Lou Yan, and sighed, "I really didn't expect you two to get out of the Ruthless Formation so quickly."
"Village head," Xu Shengzi ordered, "kill these two outsiders."
Tan Chengyi did not respond; only his lifeless eyes blinked, and an uncontrollable demonic aura rose from his body.
The wind blew again, and the previously withered leaves turned into sharp needles, piercing straight towards them.
It turned out that he had been plotting an assassination.
In the blink of an eye, Lou Yan raised his hand and formed a hand seal. Golden flames, like a winding tongue of fire, swallowed the oncoming needles into dust.
Seeing this, Heng Qichun had no choice but to pluck the strings of his stringless zither, using the sound to clear away the dust, and said sternly, "Lou Yan, calm down!"
Lou Yan is wild and untamed; he has never learned how to write the word "calm" in both his past and present lives.
He grabbed the terrified Pixiu cub and placed it on his back, maintaining a bent-over posture. Sharp canines protruded from his mouth, pressed against his lower lip, and gleamed coldly in the blazing sun.
Oh shit.
Who dares to use underhanded tactics against me?
In my past life, when I ruled the demon realm, you people were kneeling in some remote corner begging me to spare your lives.
The flames climbed higher and higher, past the numb Tan Chengyi, and burned straight towards the huge ancient tree.
Seeing the branches being engulfed by the flames, Lou Yan once again channeled his spiritual power, trying to make the fire reach Xu Shengzi.
The next instant, all the branches burst open, and Lou Yan's vision blurred for a moment. When he looked again, there was no one on the ancient tree.
Lou Yan was drenched in sweat. In the scorching heat that threatened to kill him, he looked down and his pupils suddenly contracted.
Not only Xu Shengzi, but also Tan Chengyi, the Pixiu cub, and even Heng Qichun have disappeared.
How could this be...?
Heng Qichun was just beside him a moment ago.
The fire raged on and on, burning everything from branches and leaves to trunks, from ancient trees to eaves, and threatened to destroy the entire town in an instant.
Lou Yan's vision blurred for a moment, and he was momentarily disoriented.
He vaguely saw the Eighteen Realms struggling on their deathbed in his previous life.
Flames engulfed the sky.
The karmic fire of the demon realm scorched every inch of land, and the Endless Wood was on the verge of death amidst the flames, while thick smoke billowed outside the Divine Firmament Palace.
The spiritual spring evaporated, the immortal herbs turned to ash, and Nan Yushan pointed his sword at him.
"Lou Yan, you wicked disciple!"
"Why didn't Qi Chun kill you at the foot of Tianchi Terrace that day!"
"You actually managed to crawl out alive! And you've become such a monstrous scourge upon the six realms!"
Lou Yan, who had been hailed as the Demon Lord, was escorted by a multitude of demons as he ascended the jade steps before the Divine Firmament Palace. For the first time, he looked down at the Venerable Lord of the Eighteen Realms and said, "Uncle Master probably never imagined that he would have this day."
He bent down and said in an almost demonic voice, "Hand over Heng Qichun, and I might spare your life."
Nan Yushan, overwhelmed by demonic energy, was at his last gasp. He vomited blood continuously and said in a hoarse voice, "You...don't...think."
He stood amidst the ruins, his jade crown shattered, his robes charred black, when suddenly he swung his natal immortal sword into his heart—
Lou Yan trembled.
That familiar feeling surged up again.
He gripped his palms tightly, feeling helpless, when suddenly he heard someone calling his name.
"Lou Ya!"
It was Heng Qichun's voice.
Lou Yan looked around, trying to find Heng Qichun's figure in the blazing firelight. "Master?"
"Calm your mind and recite the 'Break Through Emptiness' mantra."
After that sound, Lou Yan finally regained a moment of clarity from the scorching sight of death.
He almost forgot that Xu Shengzi was most skilled at making talismans!
—This is an illusion created by the Illusion Symbol!
He quickly closed his eyes, banished the sea of fire before him from his mind, and scattered his spiritual energy, cleaving the illusion inch by inch.
Those who are trapped by their obsessions are not true friends.
"break!"
A note from the author:
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I will never easily give in, unless you touch my head.
See you tomorrow! [Dog head with rose in its mouth][Dog head with rose in its mouth][Dog head with rose in its mouth]
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